Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Mekong Delta, Seoul, then home.

We're baaaaaack!  Home that is. We spent our last few days in Saigon (only foreigners call it Ho Chi Minh city - I never knew), the Mekong Delta and then in Seoul, South Korea. Our flights allowed for an all day foray into Seoul and I'm glad we took the opportunity. 

The Mekong delta was wonderful, we got out on the river on a larger boat, then on a much smaller boat. We visited a local bee farm, coconut candy shop and saw life on some of the islands in the river. The river IS the life for so many, the monsoon rains bring enough water for rice, fishing, and many fruits and vegetables. The scenery is wonderfully green and so very different than what we are used to in Colorado.  One of the most curious things we noticed were many small mausoleums (one person size) in the rice fields and behind homes.  It is their custom to bury their loved ones on the family farm, as they believe it is good luck and they can watch over their lands. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of them, as I wasn't sure what the etiquette was on taking pictures of the graves and I didn't want to offend. 

Some delta pictures:




We also visited the Cu Chi tunnels near Saigon. Very cool experience. They have done a great job of excavating rooms that were formerly buried in tunnels. They're now open for visitors and some of the tunnels have been widened just enough for westerners. Tom also got to fire an M1. Happy boy. 



Seoul. What can I say?  It looks like any large city in the U.S.  Coming from Cambodia and Vietnam, this city was a bit of a culture shock. It felt like we'd returned to our own country in a lot of ways:  credit cards were accepted, there were no bicycles and scooters zipping around, drivers obeyed traffic laws, the subway system was modern and so were the bathrooms. But the temples in Seoul were fabulous and we are glad we hopped the train into the city for our all day layover. We barely made it back in time for our flight, but that's another story. :)




It's great to be home but I'm already thinking about the next trip. Hmmmm...where to go?!

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